The author Wes and other Wes had their grandmothers looking after them. The dissimilarity is that author Wes’s grandparents established rules and assigned him duties while he was staying with them. In contrast, the other Wes was pampered by his grandparents; they never imparted structure or discipline on him. Author Wes’ grandparents were stern and upheld a reverence for rules and harsh punishments for violating those rules. Because they were immigrants from Jamaica, they saw the world where they settled very differently.

Both Weses were in comparable family circumstances: neither of them had father, they both had pretty tough childhoods, and they both grew up in a rough neighborhood in Baltimore. In spite of these resemblances, they turn out to be two very different individuals. The author Wes, due to his grandparent’s positive influence, went on to have a productive and pleasant life and managed to successfully navigate adulthood. On the contrary, the other Wes, as a result of his grandparents’ failure to instill discipline in him, turned into a criminal and was sent to prison.